Drive

[kevinknapman]

I was lucky enough to catch this at Empire Big Screen a few weeks ago as one of the secret screenings. I can honestly say that it immediately went to the top of my 'best of 2011' list.
It's easily one of the coolest films of the year. Though it's fair to say though that anyone going in expecting a fast moving action-paced mainstream thriller are likely to be disappointed. There are a few car chases along the way but this is more of a slow-burner. Taking time to tell it's story. This is downtown LA told via European arthouse.
Ryan Gosling is effortlessly cool as the anti-hero. Managing to give depth to a character that we are given little information about and who has very little dialogue. Plus he looks great in his satin 'scorpion' jacket. Carey Mulligan offers fine support (though I think a slightly older actress may have been more appropriate for the role of a struggling single mother. Mulligan is a perhaps a little too fresh-faced to totally convince). Oscar Isaac also just about manages to make his ripe laughable turn in Sucker Punch a distant memory as Mulligan's ex-con husband.
Some of the best character actors help round out the cast. Bryan Cranston continues to impress after his career defining role in Breaking Bad (Malcolm in the Middle seems so long ago now) and Ron Perlman is suitably gruff and menacing as a gangster henchman. Best of all though is Albert Brooks who plays excellently against type as a violent gangster (as far removed from the sweaty TV newsman in Broadcast News as you can get).
The real star of Drive though is director Nicolas Winding Refn. The material here may not be particularly original (it's very reminiscent of Michael Mann's Thief and Walter Hill's The Driver), but it's done with a great deal of style. It's a beautifully shot movie and what impresses most is Refn's knack of combining the beautiful with the ugly. It's finest set-piece in a lift involves a moment of stunning intimacy with one of shocking violence. If you don't like violence you might want to give it a miss, as things do get pretty brutal.

Cool, strikingly shot, well acted and with an awesome soundtrack, I loved Drive and can't wait to see it again.

[smacberry]

I really rated him as one to watch actor since Murder by numbers

I've been watching/loving him since he was in Breaker High, lol. That was just some cheesy weekend show about kids who go to high school on a boat that travels the world. He played some dorky skinny unpopular kid who loves to dance. Was probably about 17. But he was so much fun. It's just kind of shocking to me now (nice to see, but strange) that he's such a huge star now, and a "heartthrob" and all that. But yeah, I've liked him in pretty much every movie he's been in.... (I'm a wee bit sick of every girl's obsession with The Notebook, not gonna lie about that ).

Anyway, I haven't managed to get Drive tickets, but hoping to have a pair fall into my lap somehow...

[David]

I was lucky enough to catch this at Empire Big Screen a few weeks ago as one of the secret screenings. I can honestly say that it immediately went to the top of my 'best of 2011' list.
It's easily one of the coolest films of the year. Though it's fair to say though that anyone going in expecting a fast moving action-paced mainstream thriller are likely to be disappointed. There are a few car chases along the way but this is more of a slow-burner. Taking time to tell it's story. This is downtown LA told via European arthouse.
Ryan Gosling is effortlessly cool as the anti-hero. Managing to give depth to a character that we are given little information about and who has very little dialogue. Plus he looks great in his satin 'scorpion' jacket. Carey Mulligan offers fine support (though I think a slightly older actress may have been more appropriate for the role of a struggling single mother. Mulligan is a perhaps a little too fresh-faced to totally convince). Oscar Isaac also just about manages to make his ripe laughable turn in Sucker Punch a distant memory as Mulligan's ex-con husband.
Some of the best character actors help round out the cast. Bryan Cranston continues to impress after his career defining role in Breaking Bad (Malcolm in the Middle seems so long ago now) and Ron Perlman is suitably gruff and menacing as a gangster henchman. Best of all though is Albert Brooks who plays excellently against type as a violent gangster (as far removed from the sweaty TV newsman in Broadcast News as you can get).
The real star of Drive though is director Nicolas Winding Refn. The material here may not be particularly original (it's very reminiscent of Michael Mann's Thief and Walter Hill's The Driver), but it's done with a great deal of style. It's a beautifully shot movie and what impresses most is Refn's knack of combining the beautiful with the ugly. It's finest set-piece in a lift involves a moment of stunning intimacy with one of shocking violence. If you don't like violence you might want to give it a miss, as things do get pretty brutal.

Cool, strikingly shot, well acted and with an awesome soundtrack, I loved Drive and can't wait to see it again.

Ah, another fan of Breaking Bad. It's absolutely the best thing on tv by a mile. I can't wait to see what Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul do when it's all over, especially Aaron Paul as he's still young and so talented. Both of them so deserving of all the awards they have chucked at them. How big is Bryan Cranston's role in this? He's listed 3rd on the IMDB cast list but not in the trailer all that much.

[kevinknapman]

He's in it quite a bit. In terms of screen time he's behind Gosling and Mulligan so 3rd is about right.
I'm behind on Breaking Bad sadly as they decided not to show it anymore in the UK and I don't really like watching stuff online. Which is a shame as I keep hearing excellent reports of the past couple of seasons.

[David]

Download. Otherwise you're going to have a seriously long wait. Season 3 hasn't even come out on DVD here and America are midway through showing S4! What season did you get up to? It's so worth catching up on...

[kevinknapman]

Download. Otherwise you're going to have a seriously long wait. Season 3 hasn't even come out on DVD here and America are midway through showing S4! What season did you get up to? It's so worth catching up on...

Season 2. Five had the rights to that but decided against getting the rights for season 3. Nobody else has b*ght them yet. I was hoping FXUK might (they showed the 1st season) but nothing yet.

[funthing29]

Virgin Media are emailing successful winners from the draw so check your emails people!

The ticket is a SFF printout.

[Beate]

Haven't had anything.

[weliveandbreathewords]

Me neither

[steve9872]

I applied as soon as it was possible and I have my tickets, so waiting until the stated times wasn't necessary.